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keng

Very well documented h'c. I bought our first m/h recently and it too is based on the same vehicle with 17k miles to date therefore not a lot of regular use. I won't be able to use it on a regular basis either and I looked at the reported g/box problem and discussed it with my brother who is a car nut, dealer and qualified engineer.

In the absence of scientific testing and from speaking to someone else who replaced the fifth gears in commercial vans we concluded that a possible cause is too early selection of fifth to start with. As you pointed out the engine is quite happy in 4th and the extra loading/labouring in 5th 'may' have something to do with it.

So my tuppence worth would be, let it sing out in 4th for a while before selecting 5th. Anyone with a rev counter can easily check the difference it makes to engine speed when changing from 4th to 5th at a 'given' road speed, ie stay at say 50mph in 4th, change to 5th and note the proportionately greater difference in engine speed while staying at 50mph. Older members will no doubt think of 'overdrive' gearing.

Anonymous

Keng, I agree with keeping the load down, but I don't think it's really the answer as I've been doing it... I never select 5th till an indicated 50 (actually about 55 as the speedo underreads due to fitting 225 section tyres) This is on the flat. Seldom use 5th on hills.

I'll leave it in 5th down to about an indicated 40 when slowing down and the load is light.

I spent 3 months in the Alps this winter and only recall using 5th for about 1.5 miles. Doesn't seem to have helped me much Sad

Anonymous

Here's a photo of the 5 teeth I found...

[img:8816c39871]http://www.motorhomefacts.com/albums/HaylingChrisT/teeth.jpg[/img:8816c39871]

toytown

Hi all,
Just come back from france in 3 days of a 3 week holiday haha.
Same thing happened to us, we were parked up at a service station after filling up with gas and couldn't get the thing in gear. We had to be towed off the motorway and told they couldn't fix it, so we had to fly home.
Ours is a fiat ducatto 2l petrol. First it kept jumping out of 5th and then it wouldn't go in at all.
We are now waiting for the insurance company to bring it back from perpignan, via the seller of the van as luckily it still has 11 days left of the warranty.

We dont have to pay to get it fixed, but after waiting 2 years for a holiday it is infuriating, the van had just done 48,000 miles.

I can only praise the insurance company safeguard as they have been really hellpful with all the trouble we have had helping us to get home, and hopefully returning the van to the u.k.

Just had to vent my frustration somewhere and your it Laughing

keng

Hi there toytown,

not great about the hols but I was surprised to read that no-one could sort the van out for you.

Since this thread started I have had a look at the 5th gear 'add-on' and talked it over with a guy who does this type of work. Obviously I don't know what your exact gearbox probs are but it really is a straightforward job to sort out a failed 5th gear. Pity it had to ruin your time away Crying or Very sad

It would be interesting to hear from you again when you get the van home and what the diagnosis really is.

toytown

Hi, Ken

Thanks for the reply, they said in France that the gear box was shot. But i suppose i will have to wait until it arrives back at the dealers before i will know for certain.

Will post another message when it arrives back in the u.k.

Thanks Kim

toytown

Hi Ken,
Just thought i'd let u know, the van is home after nearly 3 weeks.
The mechanic said there was no oil in the gear box, so it had seized up.

We only did 1100 miles, and the van was serviced by a mate of ours 3 days before we left for France, so i dont see how it should of used all that all in such a short time, but at least it works now.

The place we bought it from said it wasn't really there problem as it was a servicable part but they fixed it as a good will gesture and gave us a copy of the receipt. It cost them over 600 quid, to have the fifth gear replaced and rebuild the box.

Hopefully we might get a holiday next year lol

see you
Kim

keng

Good to hear that you're back on the road, Kim.

Yes, it is hard to imagine it using that amount of oil and there would have been obvious signs if it had been leaking out.

Still, no point in tears and spilt cow juice Wink

ronny

Hi I'm another camper who has suffered the ducato 5th gear failure, my van is a 1998 2.8 idtd failed at 24000 miles had it repaired no recompense from fiat or explanation as to why this happened at this mileage. Main dealer said this was a common fault. Since the repair I have added to the gearbox Slik 50. So far I have had no more problems and have covered a further 15000 miles.